Contents

Plot

John A. Zoidberg tries his luck at a comedy club but stinks out. The act in question appears to be a parody of a Yakov Smirnov "in Soviet Russia..." bit. The next day, he tells the Planet Express crew that he's looking up his uncle, Harold Zoid, a star in silent holograms. He writes a letter to Zoid out of his own ink and Zoid invites him and the crew out to Hollywood. Meanwhile, Bender Bending Rodríguez poses as Calculon's new hot water heater, Boiler.

Having lunch with his uncle, Zoidberg is told to drop comedy and instead help direct a film Zoid wrote. However, the investment includes a million dollars, which Zoidberg can't even afford.

With Bender's help, they managed to secure a million dollars from Calculon, due to the fact that he is a fan of Harold Zoid and that Bender guaranteed that he'd win an Oscar. They create that film made back in 2995, The Magnificent Three, involving Calculon as the Vice President, son of President Zoid. Calculon doesn't want to follow in his father's footsteps. Bender was the executive producer and Zoidberg was a military official. During the premiere, the film is terrible and as everyone had already left, Calculon swears they are dead. Meanwhile, Turanga Leela refuses to pay the valet for parking, accidentally landing her and Philip J. Fry in the La Brea Tar Pits.

The Magnificent Three

Calculon is even more furious that he wasn't nominated for an Oscar. He swears to murder them all unless they get him one, so Zoidberg and Bender decide to rig the awards. When they end up at Zoid's home, he unfortunately reveals that he's an even bigger liar than his nephew. He only wanted people to remember him one last time before he dies: Zoidberg refuses to let his uncle go down in shame.

After a few weeks, Fry and Leela are unable to free the ship. However, they then find the Los Angeles subway, which they use to escape.

As the Oscar awards are given out, Zoidberg takes the place of Billy Crystal's head to announce the Best Actor award. But instead of announcing Calculon, he calls on Zoid. As they celebrate, Calculon comes in to murder them. Zoid concedes his Oscar to Calculon: chastened by his hero's acceptance speech, he spares their lives and vows to earn his own Oscar one day. Suddenly, there is an earthquake, as the Planet Express ship emerges from underground. Fry and Leela then enter the awards ceremony.

Ongoing Themes

Hermes and Zoidberg

During a staff meeting, Hermes Conrad yells at Zoidberg, "You're a crazy, penniless lobster doctor." But he says this as a lead-up to some arguably constructive criticism, "No combination of you should be a comedian." After the crew all watch Uncle Zoid's holographic video, Hermes is still almost polite: "You're right, crabby, he's a hell of a lot funnier than you could ever be."

Death, near-death, mutilations

A customer at Zoid's barber shop is decapitated in the middle of a shave.

Bender pulls off his own right arm in excitement while on a group tour of Hollywood.

Zoidberg flings the head of Billy Crystal out of its jar, causing a crashing sound off-screen.

Doppelgängers

Calculon mistakes Bender for a water heater. Bender then passes himself off as Calculon's water heater, calling himself Boiler.

Next door to Universal Studios is the grounds of Parallel Universal Studios.

A gorilla created using Jack Nicholson's DNA attends the Oscars ceremony.

Fry and Leela

The two are trapped for two full weeks under the La Brea tar pits and absolutely nothing seems to have happened between them.